Series Preview: Marlins (26-27) at Brewers (29-24)
by Jeff Sackmann on May 31, 2007 11:10 AM CDT
in Milwaukee Brewers News
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PrintGiven the way the NL East gets reported in the news--it's the Mets, the Braves, and the scrubs--I thought the Marlins were playing worse baseball than they actually are. They probably aren't contenders this year, but they are close to .500, and their run differential supports that. They haven't gotten the miraculous young pitching surprises that they did last year, but they are a decent team.
Your matchups for the series are:
- Thursday, 7:05 CT: Wes Obermueller (!!!) vs. Claudio Vargas
- Friday, 7:05 CT: Scott Olsen vs. Jeff Suppan
- Saturday, 6:05 CT: Byung-Hyun Kim vs. Chris Capuano
- Sunday, 1:05 CT: Dontrelle Willis vs. Ben Sheets
One way in which the Marlins are not halfway decent is their defense: they're on a record-setting pace. It's no secret that Miguel Cabrera is not a good third baseman. That's one reason I was a bit bearish on his Hall of Fame chances a while back: he'll end up at a less demanding position very soon. But that isn't to take away a thing from his (or Hanley Ramirez's) offensive capabilities. Balancing out those defensive limitations are four starters with OBPs at .385 or higher.
As Grinder points out, it gets easier from here. The Marlins are actually better than most of the teams in the NL Central, but that doesn't mean we can't kick off June with a reminder to the rest of baseball that the Brewers are headed to the postseason.
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from fish stripes.
One of those sentences is whacked.
Well
Are there
by hyattff2003 on May 31, 2007 2:58 PM CDT up reply actions
stripe fishing
Suppan, this being an odd number year, is expected to put forth a 3.57 ERA for the season, the way he always has since 2003. But lately he has been a bit wild with the number of walks doubling in May over the April total. I'm not sure that matters since the Marlins are the most aggressive swinging team I've seen this season. But his HR total has more than doubled during that time frame, and that does. He is considered to be the ace of the staff by many.
my emphasis.
Considered the Ace?
hey, speculation
Will Dessens take the mound for the brewers ever again (comes off DL on 6/3)?
Will the brewers bring add a 12th pitcher, who?
Who's going to be the positional player to give up the spot?
Ah, the suspense is killing me.
I've got some wild speculation
- Dessens comes off the DL, DFA.
- Bush goes on the DL with a previously undisclosed hip/calf/non-throwing-arm injury. Something nebulous and hard to prove one way or another.
- Gallardo comes up.
- Spurling goes back down.
- Capellan comes back up for the mop-up role.
by Marty McSuperFly on May 31, 2007 1:38 PM CDT up reply actions
No way
I like the idea of DFAing him, sending Bush to the pen, and bringing up Gallardo. I bet, though, that one or both of Rickie and Sheets will go on the DL.
In the meantime, we've always known that we had too many third basemen and too many outfielders, which really put a crimp into how many pitchers we could carry. I don't know what the hold up is: Jenkins hasn't been reliable in years, and his trade value will never be higher. Plus we already have his replacement in Gross. Trading him at least clears up an outfield spot, and possibly a spot on the ML roster, depending on what you get for him.
As for Counsellino, they're both aging, light-hitting utility infielders. I see no point in keeping both of them: they each have played all 4 infield positions in the past. I think Counsell has a little more to offer, not to mention that he's a Wisconsin boy; then again, we traded Jorge De La Rosa (who had been doing well, at least until he gave up 14 earned runs in his past nine innings) to get Graffanino. (If you need two utility infielders, you can call up Rottino.)
Counsellino
As for Dessens, is it a problem to admit a mistake resulting from a desperation trade? Also, with the front office all "win now, win now, rah rah blah" I'm sure they'd be okay with DFA'ing him - who knows, someone might even claim him off waivers especially if he shows anything during the inevitable AAA "rehab."
I wonder
But I got the impression that Moustache was kind of peeved that people (like us) criticized aspects of the Mench acquisition, after getting nothing but praise for all of his other moves. I wonder if there's ever pressure to never admit a mistake, or even acknowledge that a player you acquire isn't doing well.
mench trade
here, for comparison:
Cruz, Nelson: 151 PA, 39K, 10BB, 3HR, .192/.242/.315
Cordero, Francisco: 22 IP, 13.09 K/9, 3.27 BB/9, 0.00 HR/9, 0.41 ERA, 1.38 FIP
Mench, Kevin: throw in.
I'm pretty sure no one is going to admit to criticizing the fleecing of Texas that happened last year.
I think you are right though, the GM can't go and say, "I messed up getting Dessens" while he's on the team. That's the equivalently of "you're fired, well not yet."
So no, you aren't going to see GMs admitting mistakes all that often. Also, unless you wrongfully expected more out of the guy really, its not a mistake.
That's funny
But there were lots of people --- myself included --- who complained. I was fine with the El Caballo/CoCo aspect of the trade. It's the Cruz/Mench/Nix/lesser CoCo part that I wondered about, and still do.
I guess I wouldn't call it a fleecing of Texas: they traded a year and a half of their deposed closer for half a year of Caballo. So far, none of the other players in the trade contributed much to the major league teams, or are worth much in a trade now. Caballo left Texas in the offseason, and unless we decided to break the bank, CoCo is probably going to leave after this year. (No pressure to win now, Neddly.)
Still, the only way we lose in the deal is if Nelson Cruz becomes a star, and so far, the signs of that happening aren't encouraging.
Yeah
w00t!
RF Corey Hart
SS J.J. Hardy
3B Ryan Braun
1B Prince Fielder
C Johnny Estrada
LF Geoff Jenkins
CF Bill Hall
2B Craig Counsell
RHP Claudio Vargas
by Marty McSuperFly on May 31, 2007 4:07 PM CDT reply actions
we'll never know
by Marty McSuperFly on May 31, 2007 4:23 PM CDT up reply actions
Only
Actually ... whatever is up with Rickie must help Corey get into the lineup. Speed is a vital part of the "gamer" state, not so much the "battler."
$7 beers
In other words, next time you shell out seven bucks for a beer, think of the children.
That's the kind of line you start with and write an article around.
I realize the article is more of introductory into the economics of pricing the baseball experience. But just in case you don't know it, and because it makes such an awesome follow up article regarding the secondary ticket market, tickets.com is a wholly owned subsidiary of MLB Advanced Media. How's that for at the very least potential for tapping into the secondary ticket market? Having an anti-trust exemption is a great way to start a business.
Also, in light of the recent article on Scott Boras, it's a good time to talk about the shroud of secrecy that MLB economics operate in, and the PR campaign against players and agents trying to get their share of this multi-billion dollar business.
I vote for a continued series on the economics of baseball. You have a clear and articulate grasp of the basic concepts, and baseball consumers could use more enlightened writing on the subject especially since the unfortunate passing of doug pappas.
Keep up the great work. :)
thanks for the kind words
Truth be told, I have zero interest in the economics of baseball, or the secretive way in which MLB operates. I really only care about whether MLBAM is going to decide one day to send me a cease & desist letter about Minor League Splits.
I really only ended up writing that article because I was reading that book that used the movie theater example, and it made sense of something I had never really thought that much about before. Fortunately there are some other guys, like Maury Brown, who write good stuff in this vein.
by Jeff Sackmann on May 31, 2007 5:00 PM CDT up reply actions
Obermueller
by Aaron @ Brew Crew Ball on May 31, 2007 6:10 PM CDT reply actions
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NL Central Standings
| W | L | PCT | GB | STRK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chicago
|
0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | Lost 0 |
|
Cincinnati
|
0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | Lost 0 |
|
Houston
|
0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | Lost 0 |
|
Milwaukee
|
0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | Lost 0 |
|
Pittsburgh
|
0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | Lost 0 |
|
St. Louis
|
0 | 0 | .000 | 0 | Lost 0 |
(updated 2.12.2012 at 7:02 AM CST)
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